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Library supporters to unite for 13th March rally

13.01.12 | Lisa Campbell

Members of six organisations have announced they will gather to lobby parliament on cuts to library services on 13th March.

It is the first time the alliance of UNISON, the National Federation of Women's Institutes (NFWI), Voices for the Library, The Library Campaign, Campaign for the Book and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) have united to give their complaints about the recent spate of library closure announcements direct to government.

From midday, protestors from around the country will hold a rally with speakers before visiting MPs to give their thoughts on the closures.

Heather Wakefield, Unison head of local government, said: "Cutting libraries is not an easy solution for councils to save cash – it is a literacy time bomb for deprived communities.

"Community groups are being held to ransom by government plans to force them to take over the running of services, or lose them. These groups don't have the time, skills and resources to take over the jobs of experienced library staff."

Abby Barker, from Voices for the Library, urged anyone concerned for the future of the library service in the UK to get involved in the lobby. She said: "This is your chance to tell your MP how vital your local library service is, and to ask them to call the secretary of state to task over his noticeable lack of involvement."

Yesterday (12th January) the deadline passed for submissions of evidence to the Culture, Media & Sport select committee enquiry into library closures.

The committee will now read the submissions before deciding on who to call to give oral evidence at the enquiry.

• Lisa Campbell